News » Englishhttps://news.mnstate.edu
News @ Minnesota State University MoorheadFri, 31 Jul 2015 03:12:18 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3“Prairie Musicians – Behind the Scenes” featuring Lines&Notes July 24https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/07/prairie-musicians-behind-the-scenes-featuring-linesnotes-july-24/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/07/prairie-musicians-behind-the-scenes-featuring-linesnotes-july-24/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 03:13:20 +0000https://news.mnstate.edu/?p=41342Prairie Public Television’s local series “Prairie Musicians – Behind the Scenes,” features Lines&Notes, a duo created by MSUM faculty members Terrie Manno, music, and Kevin Zepper, English. The duo performs Manno’s musical compositions while Zepper reads his poetry. The full show airs Friday, July 24, at 9:30 p.m. on Prairie Public, and will later air on YouTube.

The duo also performed at the Prairie Region Teacher Training Institute in June at Concordia College. The training sessions focused on teaching and learning strategies, and were sponsored by Prairie Public.

When John Early retired from teaching English at Minnesota State University Moorhead last spring, he didn’t want to just sit at home.

“I wanted to do some traveling, and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money doing it,” he says.

In particular, he didn’t want to spend a lot of money on hotels when all he was looking for was a place to sleep after a long day’s drive.

He found the solution in a rest area near Mandan, N.D. That’s where he found a flier for Big Woody Campers, a teardrop-shaped camper small enough you can tow behind a car, but big enough to sleep two.

Early sent away for the plans and received 176-page packet of plans including paper templates for the sides and doors.

“The guy who built the original was so meticulous and precise,” Early, a car enthusiast, says.

Early used his retirement gift from his MSUM colleagues, a gift card to Home Depot, to buy supplies for his new rolling home-away-from-home.

The structure is built on a standard, store-bought 4-by-8-foot utility trailer. Early cut the two side walls and had to special-order the aluminum roof exterior. The interior is lined with 3/4-inch cedar, giving it a nice, woodsy fragrance.

He built the whole thing at home with a few basic power tools last summer for about $3,500. The biggest investment was getting a quality mattress.

“It’s not hard to build,” Early says, estimating that he spent 160 hours on the project.

“Somebody younger and more energetic could’ve got it done faster.”

“Give John a project and he gets going,” says his wife, Liz Severn.

While the Big Woody camper and Early’s ongoing project, restoring a 1948 Plymouth, are parked in their garage, Severn doesn’t mind.

“This is beautiful. It’s a work of art,” she says.

While they’re both happy with how it turned out, Early explains that others have customized their trailers in more luxurious ways. Some have more electronics inside while Early has a basic light and a few outlets. His galley is left pretty raw, used more for storage, while others have created stylish kitchenettes in theirs.

All total, Early’s camper weighs about 750 pounds. With only a slightly higher profile than his Subaru Outback, it is easy to tow behind the car without too much drag.

He took it to the Black Hills for its maiden voyage late last September, the first time in 30 years he wasn’t teaching.

“He looked so happy. He tried to hide it,” Severn says.

The smiles didn’t last long after he returned as Early needed to put it in storage for the winter.

“When he came back without that camper, it looked like he left his best friend behind,” she says.

Once spring came this year, he got the camper out of storage and towed it down to Texas and across the Southwest. The trip kept him on the road for 12 days, during which his total spent on lodging was $221, averaging $20 a night for a campground.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/06/little-camper-gives-builder-a-big-thrill/feed/0Celebrate spring semester 2015 MFA graduates tonighthttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/celebrate-spring-semester-2015-mfa-graduates-may-14/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/celebrate-spring-semester-2015-mfa-graduates-may-14/#commentsThu, 14 May 2015 03:10:41 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40661Upon successful completion of the oral defense of their thesis, MFA candidates are required to present a public recital of their work. Please join us in celebrating spring semester 2015 MFA graduates Marcus Bjornson (South Dakota), Angela Jones (Iowa), Samantha Jones (Minnesota), and Nayt Rundquist (Indiana), when they read from their work on Thursday, May 14, 7:00-9:00 p.m., in the Library Porch. All four graduates also earned a Certificate in Publishing while completing their degrees. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The MFA is a terminal degree—the highest degree in its field—allowing students to study the art and craft of writing, while preparing them for careers in teaching and writing-related professions. Since offering its first classes in fall 1995, the MFA in Creative Writing has graduated 120 students.

Our students have come from California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, New Mexico, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, as well as from Canada and Jamaica.

Every institution of higher learning—including public, private, and proprietary institutions—within a 75 mile radius of MSUM has hired an MFA grad as a professor or administrator. Graduates from the MFA program have gone on to: earn M.A. and PhD degrees; teach writing and literature and hold administrative positions in high schools, community colleges, technical colleges, and universities; work as writers and editors of magazines, newspapers, and publishing companies; manage web content and communications strategies for businesses and universities; drive taxis; direct Alumni Affairs for Teach for America; work in marketing, advertising and public relations positions for private, public, and nonprofit agencies; direct study abroad programs; develop successful freelance writing businesses; work as marketing directors for banks; and serve as emergency room anesthesiology nurses.

This has been a rather productive year for MFA graduates. Bayard Godsave’s (MFA 2001) novel, “Torture Tree,” was published by Queen’s Ferry Press; Karen Joan Kohoutek’s (MFA 2002) collection of poems, “Votives: Poems and Oracle,” was published by Skull and Book Press; “Goodbye Mike, Hello Judge: My Journey for Justice,” Federal Judge Myron Bright’s memoir, was published by the North Dakota State University Institute for Regional Studies Press and edited by Bob Jansen (MFA 2002); K.C. Hanson’s (MFA 2005) collection of poems “The Lazarus Project,” was published by North Star Press; Greg Boose’s (MFA 2006) novel, “The Red Bishop,” was released by Full Fathom Five Digital; and Ryan Christiansen’s (MFA 2012) novel, “Boy Wanted,” has been accepted for publication by the North Dakota State University Institute for Regional Studies Press.

In 2013, The MFA in Creative Writing Program was among the academic programs designated by MSUM to be phased out in order to avoid a projected $8 million deficit in 2016 and align resources with the University’s new strategic plan.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/celebrate-spring-semester-2015-mfa-graduates-may-14/feed/0Kasey Karsnia Wacker recently awarded Stanley Hooper Award for Educational Excellencehttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/kasey-karsnia-wacker-recently-awarded-stanley-hooper-award-for-educational-excellence/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/kasey-karsnia-wacker-recently-awarded-stanley-hooper-award-for-educational-excellence/#commentsTue, 12 May 2015 03:12:35 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40811Dr. Elizabeth Kirchoff, English, is proud to announce that Kasey Karsnia Wacker, a senior majoring in Communication Arts/Literature Education at MSUM, was recently awarded the Stanley Hooper Award for Educational Excellence. This award recognizes outstanding student teachers and is provided through the teachers’ professional organization ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development). Read more about Kasey and her award here. Kasey will be graduating on Friday.
]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/kasey-karsnia-wacker-recently-awarded-stanley-hooper-award-for-educational-excellence/feed/0Red Weather launch party is todayhttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/red-weather-launch-party-is-tomorrow/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/red-weather-launch-party-is-tomorrow/#commentsWed, 06 May 2015 03:10:34 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40664Red Weather features poetry, prose, and visual arts created by MSUM students and alumni. Please join for the launch party in the Library Porch to discuss and hear readings and art from Issue 34 Edition 2!

Current and past issues of Red Weather will be available for sale and refreshments will be provided!

Additionally, if you are interested in joining our team for next semester this is the place to show up to get to know other members and get in on the planning process for next year.

Event will take place the day after study day so it will be a great way to refresh your frazzled, overworked brains! See you there!

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/red-weather-launch-party-is-tomorrow/feed/0Dr. Elizabeth Kirchoff, English, and four MSUM alumni presented at the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English annual conferencehttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/dr-elizabeth-kirchoff-english-and-four-msum-alumni-presented-at-the-minnesota-council-of-teachers-of-english-annual-conference/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/dr-elizabeth-kirchoff-english-and-four-msum-alumni-presented-at-the-minnesota-council-of-teachers-of-english-annual-conference/#commentsTue, 05 May 2015 03:12:07 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40678Dr. Elizabeth Kirchoff, English, and four MSUM alumni (now Language Arts teachers), Andrew Tichy, Moorhead High School; Abby Swegarden, Lake Park Audubon High School; Ashlee Bernhardt Cournia, Shanley High School; and Katie Hansen, Waubun High School, presented at the Minnesota Council of Teachers of English annual conference, held April 30-May 1 in St. Cloud, MN. In their presentation titled “Let’s Talk! Classroom Discussion Strategies That Work,” each of the five presenters demonstrated effective classroom discussion strategies, including Socrative Room, Discussion Ball, Speed Dating, Carousel, and bell ringers. The interactive session, which relied on audience participation, was well attended and positively received.
]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/05/dr-elizabeth-kirchoff-english-and-four-msum-alumni-presented-at-the-minnesota-council-of-teachers-of-english-annual-conference/feed/0James Lenfestey to read at MSUM April 30https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/former-startribune-editorial-writer-to-read-at-msum-april-30/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/former-startribune-editorial-writer-to-read-at-msum-april-30/#commentsWed, 22 Apr 2015 15:18:51 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40301Thursday, April 30 | 4:30 p.m. | Livingston Lord Library Porch

James P. Lenfestey, a former editorial writer for the StarTribune who won several Page One Awards for excellence, will read from his work at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30 in the university’s Livingston Lord Library Porch. The free reading is part of the Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series.

Lenfestey has published a collection of personal essays, five collections of poems, a poetry anthology, and co-edited Robert Bly in This World, published by University of Minnesota Press. A memoir with prose and poems, Seeking the Cave: A Pilgrimage to Cold Mountain, published in 2014 by Milkweed Editions, is a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award.

It is tells of Lenfestey’s voyage from the U.S. to Tokyo to a road trip across the expanse of China with frequent excursions into the country’s rich historical and cultural landmarks. As he makes his way to Cold Mountain Cave, he discovers his identity as a writer and a poet.

Author Wang Ping writes: “We should all read, or rather, experience James Lenfestey’s Seeking the Cave, a journey wild, magical, quantum-leaping—a pilgrimage we must take if we want to know who we are, why we are here, where our home is.”

As a journalist Lenfestey has covered climate science since 1988. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, political activist Susan Lenfestey. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

About the McGrath Visiting Writers Series

Named in honor of the late Thomas McGrath, an internationally recognized and award-winning author who taught at Moorhead State University from 1969-1983, the Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series brings to campus some of the finest contemporary writers to read and share their work with students, faculty and the community. The series has featured more than 150 featured writers and sponsored or supported more than 50 other writers and events since its inaugural season.

Some of the many distinguished visiting writers have included U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins; Pulitzer Prize winners Carol Shields and Ted Kooser; National Book Award Winners Robert Bly and William Stafford; and National Book Critics Circle Award winners Louise Erdrich and B.H. Fairchild.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/former-startribune-editorial-writer-to-read-at-msum-april-30/feed/0Students Present at Northern Plains Conference on Early British Literaturehttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/students-present-at-northern-plains-conference-on-early-british-literature/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/students-present-at-northern-plains-conference-on-early-british-literature/#commentsTue, 14 Apr 2015 03:11:32 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40082The following students each presented a paper at the 22nd annual Northern Plains Conference on Early British Literature at Mayville State University, April 10-11.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/students-present-at-northern-plains-conference-on-early-british-literature/feed/0Yahya Frederickson, English, keynote speaker at this year’s Student Academic Conferencehttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/yahya-frederickson-english-keynote-speaker-at-this-years-student-academic-conference/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/yahya-frederickson-english-keynote-speaker-at-this-years-student-academic-conference/#commentsMon, 13 Apr 2015 03:13:58 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=40023Yahya Frederickson will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Student Academic Conference on Tuesday, April 14, 2015. To view the full schedule and list of presentation abstracts for this year’s Student Academic Conference, visit www.mnstate.edu/sac.

Biography

Yahya Frederickson teaches writing and literature at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He holds a B.A. in The Individual and Society, an individualized major, from MSUM, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Montana, and a Ph.D. in English from the University of North Dakota. Between graduate degrees he taught for six years in Yemen, initially as a Peace Corps Volunteer. He served as a Fulbright Scholar in Syria in 2005 and in Saudi Arabia in 2011.

He is the author of The Gold Shop of Ba-‘Ali, which won Lost Horse Press’s 2013 Idaho Prize. He’s also the author of 3⅓ chapbooks. The latest chapbook, The Birds of Al-Merjeh Square: Poems from Syria, won the 2013 Open Chapbook Competition at Finishing Line Press. His other chapbooks are Month of Honey, Month of Missiles (Tigertail, 2009), Returning to Water (Dacotah Territory, 2006) and Trilogy (Dacotah Territory, 1985, with Julie Taylor and Richard Schetnan).

Nominated five times for Pushcart Prizes, Yahya has been the recipient of two Academy of American Poets Thomas McGrath Memorial Awards, a Lake Region Arts Council/McKnight Foundation Fellowship grant, and a residency at The Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies.

His translations (with Muhammed Shoukany) of contemporary Saudi Arabian poets appeared in New Voices of Arabia: The Poetry: An Anthology from Saudi Arabia (I.B. Tauris, 2012).

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/yahya-frederickson-english-keynote-speaker-at-this-years-student-academic-conference/feed/0Kevin Zepper, English, to be a featured poet on “The Beat Café” Fridayhttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/kevin-zepper-english-to-be-a-featured-poet-on-the-beat-cafe-friday/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/kevin-zepper-english-to-be-a-featured-poet-on-the-beat-cafe-friday/#commentsWed, 01 Apr 2015 03:09:25 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=39777Kevin Zepper, English, is one of the featured poets on “The Beat Café,” a poetry and music event airing across northern Minnesota on Friday, April 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. Set your FM radio dial to 91.7/Grand Rapids, 90.5/Bemidji, 89.9/Brainerd, or 103.9/Ely to listen.
]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/04/kevin-zepper-english-to-be-a-featured-poet-on-the-beat-cafe-friday/feed/0“Early Modern Superstitions on Stage” scheduled for April 1 has been cancelledhttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/03/early-modern-superstitions-on-stage-scheduled-for-april-1-has-been-cancelled/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/03/early-modern-superstitions-on-stage-scheduled-for-april-1-has-been-cancelled/#commentsMon, 30 Mar 2015 03:09:50 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=39705The Religious Studies Speaker Series presentation “Early Modern Superstitions on Stage” scheduled for April 1 has been cancelled due to illness.
]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/03/early-modern-superstitions-on-stage-scheduled-for-april-1-has-been-cancelled/feed/0Religious Studies Speaker Series continues with “Early Modern Superstitions on Stage”https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/03/religious-studies-speaker-series-continues-with-early-modern-superstitions-on-stage/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/03/religious-studies-speaker-series-continues-with-early-modern-superstitions-on-stage/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 03:09:58 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=396652014-2015 Religious Studies Speaker Series
1 April 7 PM
Langseth Hall 118

Debra Marquart, James Sallis and Richard Hoffman all have work recently published by MSUM’s New Rivers Press. The writers gather at 4 p.m. in the Library Porch in MSUM’s library for a writers talk. A reading featuring all the authors takes place at 8 p.m. in Comstock Memorial Union, Room 101. A reception with music by Cat Sank Trio follows at Usher’s in Moorhead. All events are free and open to the public.

Marquart has published several books of poetry and stories through New Rivers Press, including her most recent poetry collection, Small Buried Things. Her memoir, The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere, received the Elle Lettres Award from Elle Magazine and the 2007 PEN USA Creative Nonfiction Award. She also received a Pushcart Prize and is the current Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing and Environment at Iowa State University.

A 20th anniversary edition of Hoffman’s memoir, Half the House, was recently published by New Rivers Press with a new introduction by Louise DeSalvo. New Rivers Press also published his prose collection, Interference and Other Stories. Hoffman is the Senior Writer in Residence at Emerson College.

New Rivers Press recently published Sallis’s latest collection of poetry, Black Night’s Gonna Catch Me Here: New and Selected Poems. Sallis has authored 15 novels and several collections of essays and stories, including a biography of Chester Himes. An extensive traveler, Sallis currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona.

For more information about these events, contact Suzzanne Kelley at (218) 477-5870 or
kelleysu@mnstate.edu.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/03/msum-literary-programs-collaborate-to-host-guest-authors/feed/0MSUM professors Terrie Manno and Kevin Zepper to perform poetry and music this Thursdayhttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/msum-professors-terrie-manno-and-kevin-zepper-to-perform-poetry-and-music-this-thursday/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/msum-professors-terrie-manno-and-kevin-zepper-to-perform-poetry-and-music-this-thursday/#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 03:07:41 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=38953On Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., MSUM professors Terrie Manno and Kevin Zepper will present a free performance that combines Manno’s music and Zepper’s poetry in Fox Recital Hall in the Roland Dille Center for the Arts on the MSUM campus.

The two faculty members call themselves “Lines&Notes.” Already in their second year of actively creating work and performing, Manno and Zepper’s collaboration has garnered local and national attention. They recently performed at the International Conference on the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences and Education in Honolulu.

Along with using Manno’s own compositions, the duo also uses music by other composers, such as Satie, Bach and Beethoven, to suit some of Zepper’s work.

“Each musical composition enhances the poetry with programmatic elements, creating a mood, evoking emotions, and building tension and release that supports the content of the poetry,” Manno said. “It’s really a very effective collaboration that enlivens the spoken word.”

“Music and poetry both share a common language when you describe aspects of either: rhythm, tone, image, etc. The most obvious example would be the song,”

Zepper said. “What we do is a step back. Most of the pieces I write aren’t lyrical. When we practice, you can hear the nature breaks in the music, places to embellish based on the words and how they are expressed. When we start with a musical piece, I try and find the word based on what I feel in the piece.”

Television is also in the near future for Manno and Zepper as they will soon be featured on Prairie Public Television.

Manno teaches music in MSUM’s School of Performing Arts, and has toured as a piano soloist in the United States and throughout Europe. Zepper teaches in MSUM’s English Department. His work has appeared on “The Beat” on KAXE.org, Northern Community Radio. He also works with Poets Across Minnesota, an initiative sponsored by the Northern Lights Library Network.

“With Lines & Notes, I hope we can perform a variety of places: universities, coffee shops, conferences, workshops, where we can,” Zepper said. “Terry and I will present and perform until we feel we’ve said what we want and then do something else.”

Minnesota State University Moorhead English Professor and novelist Lin Enger will read from his work at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 in the university’s Livingston Library Porch. The free reading is part of the Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series.

The High Divide was published by Algonquin in September 2014. It follows the Pope family of Minnesota on their journey toward finding their father, Ulysses Pope, after he leaves to supposedly find work in St. Paul.

A starred review in Publishers Weekly, July 21, 2014 reads: “A masterfully told Western reinvention of Homer’s Odyssey… Set against a backdrop of beauty and danger, this is the moving story of a man coming to terms with his past. In its narrative simplicity and emotional directness, it is reminiscent of John Ford’s classic The Searchers.”

Enger has taught in the MSUM English Department since 1993. He has a Bachelor’s degree from MSUM and a Master of Fine Arts from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His first novel, Undiscovered Country, came out in 2008. His short stories have appeared in Glimmer Train, Ascent, Great River Review, American Fiction, and other journals. During the 1990s, he and his brother, novelist Leif Enger, collaborated as L. L. Enger on a series of mystery novels for Pocket Books.

Enger’s awards include a James Michener Fellowship, a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, a Jerome travel grant, and a Lake Region Arts Fellowship.

Enger appeared on C-SPAN earlier this year in a panel discussion on creating books. The video can be viewed here.

About the McGrath Visiting Writers Series
Named in honor of the late Thomas McGrath, an internationally recognized and award-winning author who taught at Moorhead State University from 1969-1983, the Tom McGrath Visiting Writers Series brings to campus some of the finest contemporary writers to read and share their work with students, faculty, and the community. The series has featured more than 150 featured writers and sponsored or supported more than 50 other writers and events since its inaugural season.

Some of the many distinguished visiting writers have included U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, Pulitzer Prize winners Carol Shields and Ted Kooser, National Book Award Winners Robert Bly and William Stafford, and National Book Critics Circle Award winners Louise Erdrich and B.H. Fairchild.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/author-msum-alumnus-english-professor-lin-enger-to-read-here-feb-19/feed/0Poetry reading at Red Raven with professors Kevin Carollo and Kevin Zepperhttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/poetry-reading-at-red-raven-with-professors-kevin-carollo-and-kevin-zepper/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/poetry-reading-at-red-raven-with-professors-kevin-carollo-and-kevin-zepper/#commentsThu, 19 Feb 2015 03:13:55 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=38867Professors Kevin Carollo and Kevin Zepper, English, will square off for a poetry reading at Red Raven Espresso Parlor on Wednesday, March 4. This event begins with an open mic before they exchange blows, or poems in this case. This event is free and open to the public. The Red Raven is located at 916 Main Avenue, Fargo, ND.
]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/poetry-reading-at-red-raven-with-professors-kevin-carollo-and-kevin-zepper/feed/0Award-winning African American poet, Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, returns to MSUM tonighthttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/award-winning-african-american-poet-mariahadessa-ekere-tallie-returns-to-msum-tonight/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/award-winning-african-american-poet-mariahadessa-ekere-tallie-returns-to-msum-tonight/#commentsThu, 12 Feb 2015 03:19:37 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=38722Award-winning African American poet, Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie returns to MSUM to present a poetry reading in CMU 101 on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 7 pm. Afterward, she will sign the book of her first collection of poetry, Karma’s Footsteps, released by Flipped Eye Publishing in September 2011. Her book Dear Continuum: Letters to a Poet Crafting Liberation is forthcoming in spring 2015.

She is the Poetry Editor of the literary magazine African Voices. Her work focuses on women, race, ancestry, violence and the healing power of art and has been published in North American Review, WSQ: Women’s Studies Quarterly, Black Renaissance Noire, VIDA, Crab Orchard Review, BOMB, Paris/Atlantic, and Listen Up! (One World Ballantine).She was also featured on The Missouri Review Soundbooth as a runner-up in their 2014 audio poetry contest.

She has taught literature and composition at York College and Medgar Evers College in New York City. Her work “Strut,” a collaboration with a photographer, deals with body-image, self-acceptance, and investigates the role of capitalism in women’s issues about their appearances. Excerpts from the the series will be published in Hysteria magazine.

If you are interested in joining her for lunch on Thursday between 12 & 1:30 pm, there are limited spaces. Contact Jen Seviour at the Women’s Center, MA 154 or seviourje@mnstate.edu to confirm attendance.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/award-winning-african-american-poet-mariahadessa-ekere-tallie-returns-to-msum-tonight/feed/0Dr. Paul Harris to discuss “Racial Uplift and Methodist Education in Georgia and Liberia” tonighthttps://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/2014-2015-religious-studies-speaker-series-continues-this-wednesday-2/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/2014-2015-religious-studies-speaker-series-continues-this-wednesday-2/#commentsWed, 11 Feb 2015 03:04:03 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=38602The 2014-2015 Religious Studies Speaker Series continues this Wednesday with Dr. Paul Harris, MSUM, History, who will be discussing “Racial Uplift and Methodist Education in Georgia and Liberia.” The presentation will be this Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. in Langseth Hall 118.
]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/2014-2015-religious-studies-speaker-series-continues-this-wednesday-2/feed/0Red Weather submission deadline Feb. 15https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/red-weather-submission-deadline-feb-15/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/red-weather-submission-deadline-feb-15/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2015 03:03:48 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=38583Red Weather, the literary journal edited and designed by students at MSUM, is seeking poetry, prose, and/or visual art (photos, drawings, illustrations, paintings, prints, and any creative work that can be presented in an image file) for inclusion in the second issue of its thirty-fourth volume.

]]>https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/red-weather-submission-deadline-feb-15/feed/0Visiting Author David Treuer at MSUM Feb. 16https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/visiting-author-david-treuer-at-msum-feb-16/
https://news.mnstate.edu/2015/02/visiting-author-david-treuer-at-msum-feb-16/#commentsMon, 09 Feb 2015 03:18:55 +0000http://news.mnstate.edu/?p=38598Author David Treuer will read from his newest book published this month, Prudence at 4 p.m. and discuss his book Rez Life at 7:30 p.m., both on Monday, Feb. 16 in Weld Hall Glasrud Auditorium. Both events are free and open to the public.

In his newest novel, Prudence (Riverhead; On-Sale February 5, 2015; 978-1-59463-308-9), Treuer pushes the boundaries of identity, crossing boundaries of race, gender, and sexual orientation to tell a haunting story of love, loss, and desire in World War II-era America. Having already earned rare praise from Toni Morrison, Prudence is a landmark novel that reaffirms David Treuer as “truly an original voice” (The San Francisco Chronicle) and cements his place as a significant voice in American fiction.

The son of an Ojibwe Indian mother and an Austrian Jewish father who fled the Holocaust, Treuer grew up straddling wildly different cultures, an experience that has deeply shaped his work. Treuer left the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota where he grew up to attend Princeton, earned a Ph.D. in anthropology, and embarked on a career as a writer, publishing three critically acclaimed novels and a nonfiction portrait of contemporary life “on the rez.”

He is the recipient of the Pushcart Prize, and his work has been named an editor’s pick by the Washington Post, Time Out, and City Pages. His essays and reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Esquire, Slate.com, and the Washington Post.

The Washington Post writes: [Treuer] seems to want to do for Native American culture and literature what James Joyce did for the Irish: haul it into the mainstream of Western culture through sheer nerve and verve.”

Treuer teaches literature and creative writing at The University of Southern California. He divides his time between Los Angeles and The Leech Lake Reservation.

This lecture is sponsored by Diversity Initiatives, S.G. Comstock Fund, and Faculty Development.